Battle of Oxys
The Battle of Oxys is the final battle that concluded the First Lampardian War. Given its significance, the Polysitonian Calendar adopted it as the defining event that would set the new year dating system. Prelude After the miraculous victory at the Battle of Telemantros, the Eleutheroi have quickly regained much territories that were lost to the EBC after the disaster at the Second Battle of Argyria. While the recapture of the western side of Megale Patris was very swift, as the battle was taken to the east, difficulties went up. If this stage was to be compared to a real-life event, it would be best compared to the American assault on the Japanese in the Pacific War post-Leyte Gulf, where the Eleutheroi advantages were obvious but the Infantid resistance grew stiffer despite inferior supplies. Eleutheroi casualties were surprisingly high at the province of Makedonia: the battle of Pella for example was particularly taxing on Eleutheroi troops, especially as the Infantid suicide bombers proved much more effective against Eleutheroi than the Japanese suicide attacks have been, and the Infantids have worked on some countermeasures against the Eleutheroi tanks: while many solutions such as anti-tank grenades and the forementioned suicide bombers have proved inefficient, they have proved effective enough to pose threat enough against the Eleutheroi tanks. When the Infantids have discovered that the Eleutheroi found it difficult to assault fortified positions, they took advantage of it by further entrenching themselves into such positions and employing scorched earth strategy to slow down the Eleutheroi. This might seem counterproductive as it would have angered the subject Lagikoi population (and it certainly did anger the Lagikoi), but it also proved to be fairly effective early on. However, as the war stretched out, the scorched earth strategy backfired, as the large infantid forces found themselves isolated with no supplies to requisition in now destroyed villages. Eleutheroi quickly took advantage of that opportunity to maneuver around and besiege many of the fortified positions, clearing them out. The last of these, located at the former polis of Rhaphis, was the principal of the infantid positions, and there was the primary setting for the decisive battle that ended the First Polysitonian War. Battle Fronts The Infantid forces at Rhaphis held out tight at the said fortified location: given that the Eleutheroi cut off the lines of communications, the headquarters at Rhaphis could not request reinforcements, so the Infantid morale was already very low. Nonetheless, the infantids pulled a miraculously good performance in the skirmish at the foothills near Rhaphis, which was possible in part due to the Eleutheroi being spread out so much as to disrupt the infantid efforts at foraging. Nonetheless, a surprise victory that cost the Eleutheroi a good number of vehicles brought a surprise to the Eleutheroi, but the worst surprise was yet to come... Unexpected Reinforcements To the relief of the headquarteras at Rhaphis, an infantid division east of Rhaphis had picked up the request for aid before the lines of communication were cut, but they haven't made a proper response to the said headquarters. As such, the Eleutheroi did not prepare for a defensive there, believing the forces there were more interested in occupying and enjoying the spoils. Because of this, the reinforcements from the east was able to cut a path through the Eleutheroi forces, almost sending the forces at the east into a rout. While a quick response from the more organized taxeis have prevented a rout, the headquarters at Rhaphis was saved from complete encirclement, and was able to receive supplies, greatly restoring morale of the troops. Checking at Dawn Greatly emboldened by the success of the troops from the east and reinforced by the said troops, the headquarters at Rhaphis decides on a sally at dawn. Both the offensive and the defensive forces were in poor shape, and the sally causes a chaos in which the confused Eleutheroi troops panicked and fought poorly. However, once again the more organized central troops came into intervene, and the sally quickly was checked before the casualties went too high. However, the confusion of the more spread out Eleutheroi troops, in addition to the nasty experienced caused by the sudden entrance of infantid troops the last time, caused the Eleutheroi to cluster the troops into proper formations, which also gave the infantids room to maneuver. Seeing that the Eleutheroi troops have clustered the units, the infantids wanted a payback: now that the troops are isolated, they could do the same thing that the bad bunnies and people did to them in the liberation of Eastern Megale Patris. Seeing as the eastern wing of the Eleutheroi had been hit the hardest before, the infantids go just for that, and thus starting the main part of the Battle of Oxys. Main Battle Infantid tanks start the engagement, pushing back the reconnaisance forces of the Eleutheroi. they are quickly met by the Lagikoi motorized troops, which unfortunately went headlong against the infantid tanks, only to be quickly rebuffed dealing only some damage to the infantids. With the mobile arm of the Eleutheroi east disabled, the infantid infantry moved forward in an attempt to surround the Eleutheroi right wing, cutting off the communication in the process. Meanwhile, the Eleutheroi left and the Eleutheroi center started bombardment of the fortifications at Rhaphis before sending the first force to storm the fort. The Mikroteros Aiakides was sent forward to serve as a mobile and frontal artillery platform as the other Eleutheroi forces closed in on Rhaphis. However, Sematia at the front found that the enemy defenses were surprisingly weak, notifying Areus to scout to the north. This misjudgment could have nearly meant that the Eleutheroi right wing could have been knocked out completely. This was made worse by the Eleutheroi right wing not having flares, having used them during the surprise attack and the sally. However, the fortunes smiled upon the Eleutheroi, and a brave attack at the infantid columns managed to detonate a supply truck filled with oil and explosives, which immediately grabbed Sematia's attention. Having managed to breach Rhaphis's walls, Sematia turns the Mikroteros Aiakides towards the Eleutheroi right wing. Areus complained about Sematia going rogue, but quickly turned the remainder of the Eleutheroi center towards Sematia's position, which was directly above the infantids swarming around the Eleutheroi right wing. Mikroteros Aiakides proved to be very sturdy, managing to stay afloat even after taking heavy flak fire of the infantid flak cannons. Because of this, the infantids started to become shaken as Sematia continued to wreak havoc with the ship's multiple cannons. Areus and his forces followed soon after, and the infantids broke out into a rout as the sturdy Lagikoi tanks punched a hole in the infantid forces, by then disorganized from the attempt to surround the Eleutheroi right wing as well as Sematia's attacks. With the infantids split off by the tank wedge, the infantids broke into a rout for an Eleutheroi victory. Category:Conflicts